1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a heterogeneous catalyst for preparing 3-hydroxypropionic acid (hereinafter referred to as “3-HPA”) from allyl alcohol, and a method of preparing 3-HPA from allyl alcohol using the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of preparing 3-HPA from allyl alcohol at a high yield by performing a liquid phase reaction in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst including gold supported on a carrier composed of cerium oxide (CeO2) or a composite oxide containing cerium oxide.
2. Description of the Related Art
Acrylic acid is the simplest unsaturated carboxylic acid, consisting of a vinyl group connected directly to a carboxylic acid terminus, and is a main raw material of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs), which are synthetic polymer materials having a capacity for absorbing 500 to 1000 times their own weight in moisture. Although practical for use in sanitary items, SAPs find now applications in a variety of fields including raw materials in soil conditioners for horticulture, water stopping agents for civil engineering and construction applications, sheets for raising seedlings, freshness preservatives for food distribution, goods for fomentation, and the like, in addition to sanitary items such as disposable diapers for children. Therefore, SAPs, known to have superior water absorbency as compared to conventional water-absorbing polymers, have become increasingly more widely used in practical applications, and thus their market value has become higher. Further, acrylic acid, used as a raw material of SAPs, has an important market value, too. Additionally, acrylic acid is used as an essential raw material of various kinds of goods (3000 or more), such as acrylic fibers, paints, adhesives, coating agents and the like.
Currently, the production of acrylic acid generally uses the route from fossil fuel through propylene and acrolein to acrylic acid. Since the first oil shock, there has arisen concern about the depletion of petroleum resources. Accordingly, it has become important to secure raw materials and various chemical bases from natural resources other than petroleum resources in terms of not only provision against the depletion of such petroleum resources, but also stability of industry basis substances independent of the price change of petroleum resources.
Meanwhile, with the rise of pro-environmental issues, biomass conversion techniques have attracted keen attention thanks to their advantage of utilizing various bio-based raw materials. The development of biomass-based acrylic acid is increasingly required, inter alia. There are suggested various reaction routes to biomass-based acrylic acid, including the glycerol-allyl alcohol-3HPA-acrylic acid route.
Glycerol is produced as a by-product in the process of producing a biodiesel from vegetable oils. Production of acrylic acid from allyl alcohol derived from glycerol enjoys the advantage of utilizing environment-friendly biomass rather than fossil fuel, as a source. WO 2008/092115 A1 discloses a method of obtaining allyl alcohol at a high yield by the reaction of glycerol and formic acid, without a catalyst. Therefore, the production of acrylic acid from allyl alcohol allows for the effective utilization of glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel, thereby improving the use efficiency of biodiesel, with the expectation of effective production from glycerol.
To date, many research reports have been established on the production of allyl alcohol from glycerol or the production of acrylic acid from 3-HPA, but with insufficiency found on the production of 3-HPA from allyl alcohol. Establishment of a process of producing 3-HPA from allyl alcohol would, therefore, complete the reaction route from glycerol to acrylic acid. For this, demand is placed on the development of a novel catalytic process.
Accordingly, there is a need for research into a novel method for preparing 3-HPA from allyl alcohol at high yield under a special synthesis condition.